bronze Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I have found that you save a lot of money if you are able to have the time to make things. I read that as you lot save me money at first Was thinking they make most people bankrupt around here (of course I then read it properly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Family of 4 here including two teenage boys - one very faddy!! Our weekly shopping bill for groceries is usually around £50 for things like loo roll, flour, butter, cereals, coffee etc. We spend another £20 per week on meat at the butcher's and £5-10 on fruit and veg from the market so our weekly budget is around £80. I'm absolutely fanatical about leftovers so we buy a reasonable sized joint for Sunday dinner and this lasts us another day or two in other meals - this week's roast pork is into its 4th day now in a pie so we've not used any of the other bits of meat we bought last week yet . We don't buy bread, cakes or biscuits as I make my own. I also bottle the fruit from our trees in summer and this lasts us well into winter/spring for puddings so they're virtually free which is nice . Keeps the budget down nicely . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 We spend £80-100 a week in our house. Its just me and hubby but this also goes on feeding a large german shepherd and 4 piggy chooks! I dont feel guilty spending this much, I have tried to cut down but cant. Hubby eats like a horse - I really dont know where he puts it all We dont lead a luxurious life or go out for meals at all so we like to have nice food at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkleeeeee Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 have you tried salle organics? when we lived in the city we used to use them but we had things taken from it and a few teething problems. we are going to try again now our house is out of the way and they are alot better now. they also sell meat but i prefer my local butcher who has their own farm down our road, also there is a great farm shop on north walsham road just past the rugby club near old catton. it is great and award winning they sell almost everything but the meat and fish selection is not that great. when i compared prices some things were cheaper than the supermarket and most the same price. however they dont last as long , even in the fridge so you will end up going there more.(because they are not trated which is good but then costs more in fuel) http://www.salleorganics.co.uk/ my budget is £60-£100 a week for a 3.5 year old, a 2 year old, me and hubbie who eats loads and i make most things from scratch. i know someone who spends £60 a month for two adults and a toddler because they shop at iceland and buy cheap ready meals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Is there anywhere on their site I can see how far out they deliver to. I'm thinking of for meat boxes. ps do you ever watch coastal kitchen. The guys just bought our local pub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 I was looking at using Eversfield for my meat box, as they have a lot of varied meat, so I can get pheasent and venison too. And Rivernene for the fruit and veg. Then thaks to Lesley and Poet Seasoned Poineers to add some flavor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 You pay for pheasant. You should let it be known you want some, people are alwasy passing it on. That and rabbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkleeeeee Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Is there anywhere on their site I can see how far out they deliver to. I'm thinking of for meat boxes. ps do you ever watch coastal kitchen. The guys just bought our local pub were you talking about sale organics. they are based in salle near reepham so i think you will be included in their delivery round. give them a call and see. i think i have seen coastal kitchen a few times, i bet the food will be great in your pub. catscube, i did look at the rivernene, i saw them at a show, they did deliver to me but they said they are near peterborough so its alot of food miles (65 miles???) and they were more expensive than salle organics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My weekly food budget is £20 for one, but as it comes out of a £200 a month budget that covers food, petrol, clothes, treats/everything else that isn't an actual bill etc., I cannot be sure it comes to that. I know it is thereabouts I am now buying free range and organic where possible too, so better quality meat just less of it! I would imagine it would be difficult (but not impossible) to budget on less than £15 per person per week though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Is there anywhere on their site I can see how far out they deliver to. I'm thinking of for meat boxes. ps do you ever watch coastal kitchen. The guys just bought our local pub were you talking about sale organics. they are based in salle near reepham so i think you will be included in their delivery round. give them a call and see. i think i have seen coastal kitchen a few times, i bet the food will be great in your pub. catscube, i did look at the rivernene, i saw them at a show, they did deliver to me but they said they are near peterborough so its alot of food miles (65 miles???) and they were more expensive than salle organics. I didn't realise how close to Reepham they are. My inlaws live over there. Its a fair drive but then I guess its no worse than the stuff coming from peterborough to Fakenham to be delivered to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozkate Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 OMG! I nipped out for some fish for tea on Monday and spent £60 on....errrm!.. on errrm. Well suffice it to say I have little to show for my spend! I dare not post what I reckon me and OH spend on food etc. Kate always buys free-range everything (bananas!) and organic (even wine sometimes). We tend to buy non food stuffs in bulk cos we've a lot of storage space so I guess that reduces the spending. I Reckon the dog costs us £15 per week. The two boys eat more than me and I have a medical need for Gin and Tonic! I sometimes suppliment the shopping with the odd Pheasant, Rabbit or pigeon but that probably costs more per bird than a good free-range chicken! Thnaks for the kick up the backside! Loz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krysia Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 We always spent about £80 a week on 2 adults and a baby. Ash is now 16 months and has a healthy appetite. I am trying to do it for £50 a week (As of this month but failing as I am weak ) This is mainly as I have returned to work on a part time basis but have not yet reduced my spending habits to match my new wage! I always visit the reduced counter and fill my freezer so we always have meat in (We have a chest freezer and a big American side by side fridge freezer) Last week I emptied the freezers totally to make a list of what we have and I had 3 pages of A4 lines paper! Yes 3 pages!!!!!!! I cook 95% of food from fresh but am not perfect so always have pizza or crumbed fish in the freezer. I promise to be more vigilant next month and use up the vast supplies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I too have a Medical Need for gin! Seriously, this has made me stop and think because I have no idea what I spend on food - luckily I don't need to budget too tightly. I have an organic veg box once a week, that's £10 but I share it with a friend who pays half. I buy a bit of veg to add to it, bananas, and then the general stuff from Waitrose - I'm guessing that I spend around £40-50 a week but I might be wrong. If I'd done what I said at the start of the year, and written everything down in a notebook, I'd have an idea by now! I don't eat meat more than once or twice a week - I will only buy free-range, preferably organic and I think it's too expensive to eat every day, so I will have eggs, cheese or pulses or just vegetable soup. I rarely cook a joint or a whole chicken, as I'm on my own I can't get through it all. I try and cook from scratch as much as possible, I never buy ready meals and only have take-aways occasionally, but I've got a very bad cheese-and-biscuit habit when I'm tired or get in late. My worst thing is eating at work - I spend £15 a week on buying lunch, which I could easily make myself and about £7 a week on coffee because I'm always too rushed to have breakfast before I leave the house. I could spend a lot less, but I've got into the habit now, and I sort of feel having a 'proper' coffee is a compensation for having to go to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I would spend my money on free range eggs and chicken but buy my beef from a butcher - non organic ( I would not waste my time buying organic meat!) but organic fruit and veg too I would buy if possible. I think everyone has their own level of budget and if it suits some so be it but it does not suit everyones pocket. You need to live within your means regardless and I think most of you do it admirably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 It's the lunches and coffees that get me too. I try to budget my spending, as I'm a total shopaholic, by only having ten pounds in cash in my purse. This limits the amount I spend on the food and coffee, but it's not brilliant to spend £50 a week on pretty much nothing. I've never managed to come up with something I can make at home, that I would want to eat at work. When we cooked more (when Duncan wasn't touring) I often used to take the leftovers from dinner and reheat it for lunch, but I cook so rarely now, and the chickens get the left overs generally. We really have to budget more, as we're losing a lodger and not replacing her, which means we need to find an extra £400 a month. I am going to put the other's rent up a little (if nothing else, to compensate for his boyfriend staying over EVERY night), but only by £30 a month. Am applying for promotions at work, which would mean an enormous pay rise, but it's not the most likely thing to happen as I'm only three years into the Faststream. So need to cut down on frivolous spending. Maybe soup. I could buy soup in sainsburys by work, but then I'd have to buy bread every day as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Ah im very good at making OH packed lunch for work each day so we dont waste money on that. Plus I find cerial is really expensive (especially as my OH was getting through 2 large boxes of shreddies a week) So now I buy really cheap big bags of porridge oats, and make up mixes with other stuff like dried fruit or choc chips and cinamon and bits. We have Friday night take away but we take turns to buy that from our own money so our food budget only has to pay for 6 night of dinner a week. And I dont eat at all during the day just the evening meal. I have worked out how I can add a further £10 a week to the shopping budget as OH just had a bit of a pay rise. So def going to go ahead now with the organic meat, fruit and veg boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 Is it sad that im very excited. I have just ordered my first boxes for delivery. On thursday I will be recieving a Large fruit and veg box from Salle Organics and a Large meat box from Eversfield. Looking forward to attempting lots of yummy cooking. Please xpect loats of 'all think nice' posts from me asking what the hell to do with loads of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I'm the same. Its like christmas when our box arrives. I try not to check whats going to be in it. So I can go through it with the kids and play guess what this is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Most of the organics delivery box sites have a recipe section - very useful when you come across a vegetable or piece of meat you didnt know existed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've just read through this thread for inspiration! I'm self employed, but only do regular work for one company. Last week they told me they would need to halve my hours So today I've been sorting the budget to see exactly where we can make cutbacks and also to work out just how much I can afford to spend on food each week. Taking into account everything that we currently spend and are unable to reduce, we are left with £60 a week. For 5 of us. That doesn't include milk and bread as we get that delivered and I've budgeted for that. But I haven't made an allowance for petrol yet (probably another £40 a month). So make that £50 a week Think I need to be looking for more work ASAP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little chickadee Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Good Luck Snowy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 That's a blow Snowy. I'm really sorry. Our breadwinner has been unemployed for nearly 4 months now and the redundancy package is almost run out. I know what you're going through! Let's hope things look up very soon - I'm a firm believer in not knowing what is just around the corner. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 good luck Snowy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 So sorry to hear of your financial difficulties Snowy and Ginette. I would highly recommend the money saving expert site, www.moneysavingexpert.com I didn't think I could save any more money as most of my budget is bills and there isn't much I can do about them. Well I thought so anyway. I have saved £74 on my buildings/contents insurance and am just about to check out a different tariff with my energy supplier Eon, which I read about on their forum too. I would recommend the forum, it is huge, fast moving and a great point of reference (but I'm too scared to post on there ) Good luck with your finances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I'm another who is having to look very closely at budgetting. I've always tried to keep a track on it, but hubby was in a well paid job and really I was able to spend pretty much what I liked. Now he's left work I'm down to supporting myself and 2 teenagers with very healthy appetites, as well as paying the mortgage and all household bills, petrol, any clothes etc. etc. out of my very part time salary. Taking on extra work isn't really an option, so I'm a little worried. I can dib into our savings so we won't starve, but I really must work out where I can cut down . It looks like the food bills will be the first to be closely examined, although I always cook from scratch, buy veg from the market, meat from the butcher and so on. I always make packed lunches for us all as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
